The United States Makes Use of Music to Develop Cultural Diplomacy

游客2023-11-14  26

问题           The United States Makes Use of Music to Develop Cultural Diplomacy
    In 1956, when the cold war was at its peak, America deployed a "secret sonic weapon", as a newspaper headline put it at the time.That weapon was Dizzy Gillespie, a famed jazz musician, who was given the task of changing the world’sview of American culture through rhythm and beat. Crowds poured into the street todance. Cultural diplomacy died down after the cold war ended. But the attacks of September 11th 2001 convinced the State Department to send out America’s musicians once again to woo hearts and minds with melody.
    Rhythm Road, a program run by the State Department and a non-profit organization, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, has made informal diplomats out of bothmusicians and audiences. Since it began in 2005, musicians have travelled to 96 countries. One band went to Mauritania, a country in northwestern Africa, after last year’s coup; many depart for countries that have strained relationships with America. The musicians travel to places where some people have never seen an American.
    Jazz, so participants in the program, is well-suited to diplomacy. It is collaborative, allowing individuals both to harmonize and play solo—much like a democracy, says Ari Roland, who plays bass for a band that left New York to tour the Middle East on March 31st. Jazz is also a reminder of music’s power.lt helped break down racial barriers, as enthusiasts of all colors gathered to listen to jazz when segregation was still the law of the land.
    The State Department spent 10 million US dollars on cultural diplomacy programs in the year to September 30th 2008. But most expect funding for the initiative to increase under Barack Obama, who pledged his support for cultural diplomacy during his campaign. Rhythm Road now sends out hip-hop and bluegrass bands as well.
    There are some dissenters. Nick Cull, the director of the Diplomacy Program at the University of Southern California, thinks that these diplomatic projects would be more productive if they were not administered by the same agency that oversees the country’s foreign-policy agenda. And there is also clamor for Mr. Obama to appoint a secretary of culture in his cabinet. What good, they ask, is sending American culture abroad, when the country is not giving it proper attention at home? [br] The last paragraph suggests that______.

选项 A、the cultural democracy programs are not successful and productive at all
B、Barack Obama fails to realize his pledges for support to cultural democracy
C、the government should emphasize American culture only at home
D、authorities should give more attention to American culture domestically

答案 D

解析 推理判断题。答案在最后一段。该段强调对于文化外交,在美国国内还是有人持异议的,并要求政府对文化活动在本国的开展要予以重视,故选[D]项,同时排除[C]项;此外文中提到文化外交计划在一定条件下能更富有成效,并未讲该计划完全不成功,[A]项推理过度。[B]项中奥巴马承诺支持文化外交的内容并不在最后一段中,而是在倒数第二段中出现,故排除[B]项。
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